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Britain and Ireland top boozing league

Submitted by Natural Solutio... on Thu, 2006-06-01 12:00

Jun 1, 2006

Britain is third in a list of European binge-drinkers, while Ireland has been
given the dubious honour of coming top.

A European Union (EU)-wide survey on alcohol consumption conducted by
UK-based Institute of Alcohol Studies and funded by the European Commission
found that British adults went on binges an average of 28 times a year.

That represents a drinking session once every 13 days, leaving Britain behind
only the Irish and the Finns in the continent. The Italians, on the other hand,
go bingeing four times less frequently than Britons.

British adolescents fare little better, also coming third on the list after
27 per cent of 15- to 16-year-olds admitted to drinking three or more times each
month  three times more than those in Hungary.

Much of that is due to the increase in drinking among girls and Britain is
now alone with Finland and Ireland in having girls who sometimes get drunk more
than boys.

Adult drinkers in the UK are also less likely to consume alcohol with meals
than their continental neighbours, with only a quarter drinking 'only or mainly
when eating', although this trend seems less in evidence among 18- to
29-year-olds.

The report, which was conducted as part of research being garnered for the
EU's alcohol strategy due later this year, also reveals alcohol is behind only
tobacco and high blood pressure in the damage it causes the public.

It suggests that five to nine million children suffer because of family
drinking and 10,000 people die as a result of being bystanders or passengers in
drink-driving incidents, while the cost of alcohol is about 650 (£445) per
household per year.

'This is the best estimate yet conducted showing the scale of the social
costs of alcohol in Europe,' Professor Christine Godfrey, professor of health
economics at the Centre for Health Economics at the University of York, said.

In its last report published by the prime minister's strategy unit, the
Department of Health admitted that 'patterns of heavy and binge drinking may be
particularly serious in the UK'.

It estimated that up to 40 per cent of men's drinking sessions can be
considered as binge-drinking and that a typical 'Saturday night out' can often
see men consume four times the recommended guidelines.

Liver problems, stomach ulcers and mental health issues have all been linked
to alcohol abuse.

According to the British Medical Association (BMA) binge drinking is often
defined as consuming more than half the governments weekly recommended number
of units of alcohol one session, equating to ten units for men and seven units
for women.